Monroe County Commissioners held a “signing day” ceremony on Tuesday, May 19 for 2026 Mary Persons graduate Cherish Taylor, who officially signed a contract to work full-time for the Monroe County Public Works Department as an equipment operator upon her high school graduation on Friday.
Monroe County Public Works Director Kimbel Stokes said Taylor has worked at the Monroe County Landfill over the past several months while completing her high school curriculum. He said Taylor has learned to operate heavy equipment, including bulldozers, excavators, and off-road trucks, using simulators at Mary Persons’ newly-opened College and Career Academy.
Stokes said that in the few months that Taylor has worked for Monroe County, she has already “earned the respect of her co-workers and became a valuable member of the team.”
Longtime MP construction teacher, D.J. Hurm, who has taught Taylor for the past two years, said MP is one of just 30 schools in Georgia who have heavy equipment simulators. Hurm said he has watched Taylor mature and grow to become “the team cheerleader” of her eight-person heavy equipment class.
District 1 Commissioner Lamarcus Davis said “signing days” have been made famous by college-bound athletes, but he said they’re a valuable means of showing appreciation for students who excel in all types of ways. Commissioner Davis said Monroe County Schools’ new College and Career Academy, which opened in August 2025, is going to be impactful for more students in specialty fields like Taylor’s in the coming years.
Commissioner Davis said, “I’m hoping this is just the beginning of the foundation of other great students coming out of Mary Persons and joining our great county.”
Commission Chairman Alan Gibbs thanked Taylor for taking full advantage of the opportunity that was presented to her by Monroe County Schools and Monroe County Public Works.
Chairman Gibbs said of Taylor’s signing day: “I really love the fact that our school kids are going to school here, getting something that they can actually use in real world application, and then staying in Monroe County and working here.”
Taylor was accompanied at Tuesday’s ceremony by members of her family, including her mother Ashley, as well as Hurm, MP Counselor Teresa Roller, and MP Assistant Principal Jamarcus Johnson.
